Sidelink Communication Method and Communication Apparatus

This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2024/070130, filed on Jan. 2, 2024, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202310200629.X, filed on Jan. 12, 2023 and Chinese Patent Application No. 202310317372.6, filed on Mar. 21, 2023. All of the aforementioned patent applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

Embodiments of this application relate to the communication field, and more specifically, to a sidelink communication method and apparatus.

A large quantity of small packet services are transmitted in an industrial internet. For example, in a mobile control (mobile control) scenario, one programmable logic controller (PLC) needs to exchange a large quantity of small packet services with a plurality of sensors/actuators (S/A), and a size of a small packet service is, for example, 20 to 50 bytes (bytes). In an existing sidelink (SL) resource pool configuration, one subchannel includes at least 10 physical resource blocks (PRB), and a quantity of resources that need to be occupied by the small packet service may be far less than a quantity of resources included in each subchannel. Therefore, scheduling a transmission resource for each small packet service in a unit of a subchannel causes low resource utilization, and independently scheduling transmission of each small packet causes high sidelink control information (SCI) overheads. If a quantity of PRBs included in each subchannel is directly reduced, although flexibility of resource scheduling can be improved, an additional problem is caused. For example, an increase in a quantity of subchannels leads to an increase in complexity of blind detection of a physical sidelink control channel (PSCCH), and an increase in a quantity of symbols occupied by the PSCCH leads to an increase in a decoding delay.

This application provides a sidelink communication method and a communication apparatus, to improve resource utilization of a small packet transmission service.

According to a first aspect, a sidelink communication method is provided. The method may be performed by a terminal device, or may be performed by a component (for example, a chip or a circuit) of a terminal device. This is not limited. For ease of description, an example in which the method is performed by a first terminal device is used below for description.

The method includes: The first terminal device sends a first transport block (TB) to M second terminal devices. The first TB corresponds to at least two first source addresses and/or at least two first destination addresses. The at least two first source addresses correspond to at least two of the M second terminal devices. The at least two first destination addresses correspond to at least two of the M second terminal devices. M is a positive integer greater than 1. The first terminal device sends first indication information to the M second terminal devices. The first indication information indicates whether the first TB includes a media access control (MAC) service data unit (SDU) corresponding to an msecond terminal device in the M second terminal devices, and m=1, 2, . . . , or M.

For example, a first source address corresponding to the msecond terminal device is a source address corresponding to data sent by the first terminal device to the msecond terminal device, for example, a layer 2 (L2) source address or a layer 1 (L1) source address. A first destination address corresponding to the msecond terminal device is a destination address corresponding to the data sent by the first terminal device to the msecond terminal device, for example, a layer 2 destination address or a layer 1 destination address.

Based on the foregoing technical solution, when the first terminal device sends MAC SDUs to a plurality of second terminal devices, the first terminal device may multiplex the MAC SDUs sent to the plurality of second terminal devices into one first TB, and transmit the first TB on one physical sidelink shared channel (PSSCH) resource, so that resource utilization can be improved.

In addition, when the first terminal device sends MAC SDUs to some of the plurality of second terminal devices, the first terminal device may send the first indication information to the plurality of second terminal devices, to indicate whether the first TB sent by the first terminal device includes a MAC SDU corresponding to each second terminal device, so that the plurality of second terminal devices may determine, based on the first indication information, whether to receive the first TB. Further, if the first indication information indicates that the first TB does not include a MAC SDU corresponding to a second terminal device, the second terminal device does not receive the first TB, so that power consumption of the second terminal device can be reduced.

For example, the first indication information includes M bits in one-to-one correspondence with the M second terminal devices. An mbit in the M bits indicates whether the first TB includes the MAC SDU corresponding to the msecond terminal device. The mbit corresponds to the msecond terminal device.

For example, if a value of a bit #m in the M bits is a first value, the bit #m indicates that the first TB sent by the first terminal device includes the MAC SDU corresponding to the msecond terminal device; or if a value of a bit #m is a second value, the bit #m indicates that the first TB sent by the first terminal device does not include the MAC SDU corresponding to the msecond terminal device. The bit #m is the mbit in the M bits. The first value is 1, and the second value is 0. Alternatively, the first value is 0, and the second value is 1.

For example, the first indication information is carried in sidelink control information (SCI) associated with the first TB.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: The first terminal device sends a second source address and/or a second destination address to the M second terminal devices. The second source address corresponds to the M second terminal devices. The second destination address corresponds to the M second terminal devices. All or a part of bits of the second source address and/or the second destination address are carried in the SCI associated with the first TB.

Based on the foregoing technical solution, when the SCI associated with the first TB carries the second source address and/or the second destination address, after receiving the SCI associated with the first TB, the msecond terminal device in the M second terminal devices may determine, based on the second source address and/or the second destination address, that the SCI associated with the first TB is SCI sent by the first terminal device to the msecond terminal device. Then, the msecond terminal device parses the SCI associated with the first TB. The msecond terminal device may detect the first TB on a PSSCH associated with the SCI associated with the first TB. On the contrary, after receiving the SCI associated with the first TB, another second terminal device other than the M second terminal devices determines, based on the second source address and/or the second destination address, that the SCI associated with the first TB is not SCI sent by the first terminal device to the another second terminal device, so that the another second terminal device does not detect the first TB on the PSSCH associated with the SCI associated with the first TB.

For example, a part of bits of the second source address and/or the second destination address are carried in the SCI associated with the first TB, and a remaining part of bits of the second source address and/or the second destination address are carried in a sidelink shared channel (SL-SCH) subheader corresponding to the first TB.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: The first terminal device sends first configuration information to the M second terminal devices. The first configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following: a correspondence between the M second terminal devices and the M bits, where the mbit in the M bits indicates whether the first TB includes the MAC SDU corresponding to the msecond terminal device, and m=1, 2, . . . , or M; or the second source address and/or the second destination address, where the second source address corresponds to the M second terminal devices, and the second destination address corresponds to the M second terminal devices.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first TB includes K groups of MAC SDUs. The K groups of MAC SDUs correspond to N second terminal devices in the M second terminal devices. K is a positive integer, and 1<K≤N. A subheader corresponding to a 1MAC SDU in a kgroup of MAC SDUs in the K groups of MAC SDUs includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the kgroup of MAC SDUs. The first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the kgroup of MAC SDUs correspond/corresponds to one or more of the N second terminal devices, and k=1, 2, . . . , or K.

Based on the foregoing technical solution, a subheader corresponding to one MAC SDU in each group of MAC SDUs in the first TB sent by the first terminal device includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU, so that a second terminal device may identify, based on the first source address and/or the first destination address, a MAC SDU that is included in the first TB and that corresponds to the second terminal device. Compared with a manner in which a subheader corresponding to each MAC SDU includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU, this can reduce a quantity of bits of the first TB.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, a subheader corresponding to a kMAC SDU in the kgroup of MAC SDUs includes second indication information. The second indication information indicates whether a subheader corresponding to a MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU, k=1, 2, . . . , or I, and Irepresents a quantity of MAC SDUs included in the kgroup of MAC SDUs. Alternatively, the second indication information indicates that a subheader corresponding to a MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU, k=I, and Irepresents a quantity of MAC SDUs included in the kgroup of MAC SDUs.

Based on the foregoing technical solution, an nsecond terminal device may determine, based on the second indication information included in the subheader corresponding to the kMAC SDU in the kgroup of MAC SDUs, whether a subheader corresponding to a MAC SDU #k′ (that is, the MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU) includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU #k′. If the nsecond terminal device determines that the subheader corresponding to the MAC SDU #k′ includes the first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU #kj′, the nsecond terminal device parses the subheader corresponding to the MAC SDU #k′ to obtain the first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU #k′; or if the nsecond terminal device determines that the subheader corresponding to the MAC SDU #k′ does not include the first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU #k′, the nsecond terminal device may determine that the first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU #k′ are/is the same as a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the kMAC SDU, that is, the MAC SDU #k′ belongs to the kgroup of MAC SDUs.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the first TB includes K groups of MAC SDUs. The K groups of MAC SDUs correspond to N second terminal devices in the M second terminal devices. K is a positive integer, and 1<K≤N. The first TB includes K SL-SCH subheaders. The K SL-SCH subheaders are in one-to-one correspondence with the K groups of MAC SDUs. An SL-SCH subheader corresponding to a kgroup of MAC SDUs in the K groups of MAC SDUs includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the kgroup of MAC SDUs. The first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the kgroup of MAC SDUs correspond/corresponds to one or more of the N second terminal devices, and k=1, 2, . . . , or K.

Based on the foregoing technical solution, an SL-SCH subheader corresponding to each group of MAC SDUs in the first TB sent by the first terminal device includes first source addresses and/or first destination addresses corresponding to the MAC SDUs, so that a second terminal device may identify, based on the first source addresses and/or the first destination addresses, a MAC SDU that is included in the first TB and that corresponds to the second terminal device.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, a subheader corresponding to a kMAC SDU in the kgroup of MAC SDUs includes third indication information. The third indication information indicates whether an SL-SCH subheader corresponding to a (k+1)th group of MAC SDUs is included after the kMAC SDU, k-1, 2, . . . , or I, and I represents a quantity of MAC SDUs included in the kgroup of MAC SDUs. Alternatively, the third indication information indicates that an SL-SCH subheader corresponding to a (k+1)th group of MAC SDUs is included after the kMAC SDU, k=I, and Irepresents a quantity of MAC SDUs included in the kgroup of MAC SDUs.

Based on the foregoing technical solution, after receiving the first TB, an nsecond terminal device may determine, based on the third indication information included in the subheader corresponding to the kMAC SDU in the kgroup of MAC SDUs, whether the SL-SCH subheader corresponding to the (k+1)th group of MAC SDUs is included after the kMAC SDU. If the nsecond terminal device determines that the SL-SCH subheader corresponding to the (k+1)th group of MAC SDUs is included after the kMAC SDU, the nsecond terminal device determines that the kMAC SDU is a last MAC SDU in the kgroup of MAC SDUs, and then the nsecond terminal device may parse the SL-SCH subheader after the kMAC SDU to obtain a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the (k+1)th group MAC SDUs; or if the nsecond terminal device determines that the SL-SCH subheader corresponding to the (k+1)th group of MAC SDUs is not included after the kMAC SDU, the nsecond terminal device may determine that a MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU belongs to the kgroup of MAC SDUs, that is, a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU are/is the same as a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the kMAC SDU.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the method further includes: The first terminal device receives, on a first resource, feedback information from the N second terminal devices in the M second terminal devices. The feedback information indicates a receiving status of the first TB. An index Hof a feedback resource unit corresponding to the nsecond terminal device in the N second terminal devices in the first resource satisfies H=(T+R) mod (F). Trepresents all or a part of bits of a first source address corresponding to data sent by the first terminal device to the nsecond terminal device. Alternatively, Tis 0. Rrepresents all or a part of bits of a first destination address corresponding to the data sent by the first terminal device to the nsecond terminal device. Alternatively, Rrepresents a number of the nsecond terminal device in the M second terminal devices. F is a total quantity of indexes of feedback resource units included in the first resource, n=1, 2, . . . , or N, and mod( ) represents a modulo operation.

Based on the foregoing technical solution, each of the N second terminal devices sends feedback information on a corresponding feedback resource unit, so that the first terminal device may determine, based on the feedback information, whether each of the N second terminal devices correctly receives the first TB. This helps the first terminal device retransmit the first TB to a second terminal device that does not correctly receive the first TB.

According to a second aspect, a sidelink communication method is provided. The method may be performed by a terminal device, or may be performed by a component (for example, a chip or a circuit) of a terminal device. This is not limited. For ease of description, an example in which the method is performed by a second terminal device is used below for description.

An nsecond terminal device in N second terminal devices receives first indication information from a first terminal device. The first indication information indicates whether a first TB includes a MAC SDU corresponding to an msecond terminal device in M second terminal devices. The M second terminal devices include the N second terminal devices. The first TB corresponds to at least two first source addresses and/or at least two first destination addresses. The at least two first source addresses correspond to at least two of the M second terminal devices. The at least two first destination addresses correspond to at least two of the M second terminal devices. Both M and N are positive integers. N≤M, m=1, 2, . . . , or M, and n=1, 2 . . . , or N. The nsecond terminal device receives the first TB from the first terminal device based on the first indication information.

For beneficial effects of the second aspect and implementations of the second aspect, refer to the descriptions of the first aspect.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information includes M bits in one-to-one correspondence with the M second terminal devices. An mbit in the M bits indicates whether the first TB includes the MAC SDU corresponding to the msecond terminal device. The mbit corresponds to the msecond terminal device.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first indication information is carried in SCI associated with the first TB.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: The nsecond terminal device receives a second source address and/or a second destination address from the first terminal device. The second source address corresponds to the M second terminal devices. The second destination address corresponds to the M second terminal devices. All or a part of bits of the second source address and/or the second destination address are carried in the SCI associated with the first TB.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, a part of bits of the second source address and/or the second destination address are carried in the SCI associated with the first TB, and a remaining part of bits of the second source address and/or the second destination address are carried in an SL-SCH subheader corresponding to the first TB.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: The nsecond terminal device receives first configuration information from the first terminal device. The first configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following: a correspondence between the M second terminal devices and the M bits, where the mbit in the M bits indicates whether the first TB includes the MAC SDU corresponding to the msecond terminal device; or the second source address and/or the second destination address, where the second source address corresponds to the M second terminal devices, and the second destination address corresponds to the M second terminal devices.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first TB includes K groups of MAC SDUs. The K groups of MAC SDUs correspond to the N second terminal devices. K is a positive integer, and 1<K≤N. A subheader corresponding to a 1MAC SDU in a kgroup of MAC SDUs in the K groups of MAC SDUs includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the kgroup of MAC SDUs. The first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the kgroup of MAC SDUs correspond/corresponds to one or more of the N second terminal devices, and k=1, 2, . . . , or K. The method further includes: The nsecond terminal device determines, based on the first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the kgroup of MAC SDUs, whether the kgroup of MAC SDUs corresponds to the nsecond terminal device.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, a subheader corresponding to a kMAC SDU in the kgroup of MAC SDUs includes second indication information. The second indication information indicates whether a subheader corresponding to a MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU, k=1, 2, . . . , or I, and Irepresents a quantity of MAC SDUs included in the kgroup of MAC SDUs. Alternatively, the second indication information indicates that a subheader corresponding to a MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU, k=I, and Irepresents a quantity of MAC SDUs included in the kgroup of MAC SDUs. The method further includes: The nsecond terminal device determines, based on the second indication information included in the subheader corresponding to the kMAC SDU, whether the subheader corresponding to the MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU includes the first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the MAC SDU after the kMAC SDU.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the first TB includes K groups of MAC SDUs. The K groups of MAC SDUs correspond to the N second terminal devices. K is a positive integer, and 1<K≤N. The first TB includes K SL-SCH subheaders. The K SL-SCH subheaders are in one-to-one correspondence with the K groups of MAC SDUs. An SL-SCH subheader corresponding to a kgroup of MAC SDUs in the K groups of MAC SDUs includes a first source address and/or a first destination address corresponding to the kgroup of MAC SDUs. The first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the kgroup of MAC SDUs correspond/corresponds to one or more of the N second terminal devices, and k=1, 2, . . . , or K. A subheader corresponding to a kMAC SDU in the kgroup of MAC SDUs includes third indication information. The third indication information indicates whether an SL-SCH subheader corresponding to a (k+1)th group of MAC SDUs is included after the kMAC SDU, k=1, 2, . . . , or I, and Irepresents a quantity of MAC SDUs included in the kgroup of MAC SDUs. Alternatively, the third indication information indicates that an SL-SCH subheader corresponding to a (k+1)group of MAC SDUs is included after the kMAC SDU, k=I, and Irepresents a quantity of MAC SDUs included in the kgroup of MAC SDUs. The method further includes: The nsecond terminal device determines, based on the first source address and/or the first destination address corresponding to the kgroup of MAC SDUs, whether the kgroup of MAC SDUs corresponds to the nsecond terminal device. The nsecond terminal device determines, based on the third indication information included in the subheader corresponding to the kMAC SDU, whether an SL-SCH subheader corresponding to an (n+1)group of MAC SDUs is included after the kMAC SDU.

With reference to the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: The nsecond terminal device sends feedback information of the nsecond terminal device to the first terminal device by using a feedback resource unit corresponding to the nsecond terminal device in a first resource. The feedback information of the nsecond terminal device indicates a receiving status of the first TB. An index Hof the feedback resource unit corresponding to the nsecond terminal device in the first resource satisfies H=(T+R) mod (F). Trepresents all or a part of bits of a first source address corresponding to data sent by the first terminal device to the nsecond terminal device. Alternatively, Tis 0. Rrepresents all or a part of bits of a first destination address corresponding to the data sent by the first terminal device to the nsecond terminal device. Alternatively, Rrepresents a number of the nsecond terminal device in the M second terminal devices. F is a total quantity of indexes of feedback resource units included in the first resource, and mod( ) represents a modulo operation.

According to a third aspect, a sidelink communication method is provided. The method may be performed by a terminal device, or may be performed by a component (for example, a chip or a circuit) of a terminal device. This is not limited. For ease of description, an example in which the method is performed by a first terminal device is used below for description.

The method includes: The first terminal device generates first data. The first data includes K TBs. The K TBs are in one-to-one correspondence with K first source addresses and/or K first destination addresses. The K first source addresses correspond to N second terminal devices in M second terminal devices. The K first destination addresses correspond to the N second terminal devices. M, N, and K are all integers greater than 1, and 1<K≤N≤M. The first terminal device sends the first data to the M second terminal devices by using a first PSSCH.

Based on the foregoing technical solution, when the first terminal device sends MAC SDUs to a plurality of second terminal devices, the first terminal device may multiplex the MAC SDUs sent to the plurality of second terminal devices into a plurality of TBs, concatenate the plurality of TBs into the first data, and then transmit the first data on one PSSCH resource, so that resource utilization can be improved.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: The first terminal device sends first indication information to the M second terminal devices. The first indication information indicates whether the first data includes a MAC SDU corresponding to an msecond terminal device in the M second terminal devices, and m=1, 2, . . . , or M.

In a possible implementation, the first indication information indicates whether the first data includes a TB corresponding to the msecond terminal device in the M second terminal devices.

Based on the foregoing technical solution, in addition, when the first terminal device sends MAC SDUs to some of the plurality of second terminal devices, the first terminal device may send the first indication information to the plurality of second terminal devices, to indicate whether the first data sent by the first terminal device includes a MAC SDU corresponding to each second terminal device, so that the plurality of second terminal devices may determine, based on the first indication information, whether to receive the first data. Further, if the first indication information indicates that the first data does not include a MAC SDU corresponding to a second terminal device, the second terminal device does not receive the first data, so that power consumption of the second terminal device can be reduced.

For example, the first indication information includes M bits in one-to-one correspondence with the M second terminal devices. An mbit in the M bits indicates whether the first data includes the MAC SDU corresponding to the msecond terminal device.

For example, the first indication information is carried in SCI associated with the first data.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: The first terminal device sends a second source address and/or a second destination address to the M second terminal devices. The second source address and the second destination address correspond to the M second terminal devices. All or a part of bits of the second source address and/or the second destination address are carried in the SCI associated with the first data.

Based on the foregoing technical solution, when the SCI associated with the first data carries the second source address and/or the second destination address, after receiving the SCI associated with the first data, the msecond terminal device in the M second terminal devices may determine, based on the second source address and/or the second destination address, that the SCI associated with the first data is SCI sent by the first terminal device to the msecond terminal device. Then, the msecond terminal device parses the SCI associated with the first data. The msecond terminal device may detect the first data on a PSSCH associated with the SCI associated with the first data. On the contrary, after receiving the SCI associated with the first data, another second terminal device other than the M second terminal devices determines, based on the second source address and/or the second destination address, that the SCI associated with the first data is not SCI sent by the first terminal device to the another second terminal device, so that the another second terminal device does not detect the first data on the PSSCH associated with the SCI associated with the first data.

For example, a part of bits of the second source address and/or the second destination address are carried in the SCI associated with the first data, and a remaining part of bits of the second source address and/or the second destination address are carried in an SL-SCH subheader corresponding to the K TBs.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: The first terminal device sends first configuration information to the M second terminal devices. The first configuration information is used to configure at least one of the following: a correspondence between the M second terminal devices and the M bits, where the mbit in the M bits indicates whether the first data includes the MAC SDU corresponding to the msecond terminal device in the M second terminal devices, and m=1, 2, . . . , or M; or the second source address and/or the second destination address, where the second source address corresponds to the M second terminal devices, and the second destination address corresponds to the M second terminal devices.